Pope, Reagan Talk At Vatican

Discussion Centers On Polish Catholics, Arms Control

June 07, 1987|By George de Lama, Chicago Tribune.

VATICAN CITY — President Reagan met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican Saturday and expressed hope the pontiff will ``lighten the terrible burden`` of oppressed Roman Catholics in Poland when the Pope visits his homeland next week.

After a 53-minute private meeting in the papal library, the Pope in turn exhorted Reagan to set aside mistrust and ideology and seek a nuclear arms control agreement with the Soviet Union for the benefit of all mankind.

``Even those who have previously been labeled as enemies can be seen in a new perspective, as brothers and sisters in one human family,`` the Pope said in brief remarks after his meeting with Reagan.

Reagan and his wife, Nancy, flew to Rome from Venice Saturday morning, then went by helicopter to the Vatican under tight security for the President`s third meeting in the last five years with the Polish-born head of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Reagans were received with pomp in an enclosed courtyard outside St. Peter`s Basilica by a squad of the Pope`s Swiss guards, 16 of the pontiff`s gentlemen-in-waiting and Bishop Dino Monduzzi, prefect of the pontifical palace.

While Mrs. Reagan left her husband`s side to see Vatican art treasures, the President went ahead to the papal library, where the Pope greeted him at the door and then gently took his arm and led him inside for their meeting.

In his speech afterward, the Pope stressed the need for the world`s two superpowers to come to an arms accord that would ``free immense resources``

for the benefit of underdeveloped nations.

The pontiff also warned that the deep mistrust between the United States and the Soviet Union poses a threat to world peace.

``The absence of trust, and an unwillingness to work together for the good of all, breed division in the world and become a great stumbling block to the pursuit of true justice and peace,`` he said.

The Pope said he was reiterating the message he delivered during Reagan`s first visit to the Vatican in 1982, an event recalled mainly for the fact that the President fell asleep during the pontiff`s remarks.

The Pope called for ``greater trust between peoples and nations, a trust that is manifested and proved through constructive negotiations aimed at ending the arms race, and at liberating immense resources that can be used to alleviate misery and feed millions of hungry human beings.``

Reagan, however, did not address the topic of arms control and instead directed his remarks toward communist suppression of religious liberties in the Soviet bloc.

Referring to the Pope`s scheduled visit Monday to Poland, Reagan paid homage to that nation`s strong Catholic heritage and called on its government to loosen its ``statist shackles`` on the Polish people.

``We see the power of the spiritual force in that troubled land, uniting a people in hope, just as we see the powerful stirrings to the East of a belief that will not die, despite generations of oppression,`` Reagan said.

Expressing hope that ``true change`` will someday come to Poland and to

``Despite all the attempts to extinguish it, the people`s faith burns with a passionate heat,`` he said. ``Once allowed to breathe free, that faith will burn so brightly it will light the world.``

Reagan said Americans` hearts and prayers go with the Pope to Poland ``in profound hope that soon the hand of God will lighten the terrible burden of brave people everywhere who yearn for freedom.``

The Pope did not mention his upcoming trip to Poland in his short speech, but White House officials said the subject came up during his private meeting with Reagan.

The pontiff said he was eagerly looking forward to his trip to nine cities in the United States this fall, a visit expected to spark controversy over the Pope`s conservative stand on a variety of social issues.

Both leaders hailed the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the Vatican.

``The Holy See has no political ambitions, but it does consider it part of its mission in the world to be vitally concerned about human rights and the dignity of all, especially the poor and suffering,`` the Pope said.

After his private audience with the Pope, Reagan was joined by Mrs. Reagan and senior White House officials for a picture-taking session with the pontiff.

Among the members of the White House entourage Reagan introduced to the Pope was Julius Bengsston, the Beverly Hills hairdresser who accompanies Mrs. Reagan on all her trips overseas.

The Reagans later greeted a number of cheering American clergymen and lay Catholics in the Vatican`s ornate Sala Clementina, where the President drew laughs with a series of one-liners.

``His Holiness and I have just concluded an exchange of ideas,`` Reagan said, ``and his, obviously, were better than mine.``

Reagan invited the gathered Americans to ask him a question, again drawing laughter when he jokingly refused to acknowledge the raised hands of American journalists.

One young priest in the audience asked the President what suggestions he had for Italians who are choosing a new government in elections June 14. Reagan deftly sidestepped the sensitive issue.

``If there`s one thing I`ve learned in this job,`` he said, ``I will not stand in someone else`s country and suggest how they should arrive at a political settlement of anything.``